By oht_editor | on April 16, 2022

GOODLAND TWP. — The Goodland Township Planning Commission starting Thursday will hold weekly meetings to allow its members to review a site plan and special land use application submitted by Orion Renewable Energy Group regarding the company’s plans to construct a 100-megawatt solar panel project in the community.

Orion’s project is proposed on property owned by 13 landowners. The site, as proposed, is accessible off Shaw, Brown City, Crowe, Sisson, Bowers, and Wheeling roads.

The Planning Commission meetings, open to the public, will start at 7 p.m., and will be held April 21, April 28, May 5, May 12, and May 19. The Planning Commission isn’t expected to hold a public hearing nor make a decision on the proposed solar farm project until June.

The project has leased a total of approximately 1,713 acres of private property. Of that, 826 acres will contain project-related facilities within the fenced project area. Of the 826 acres within the project fence line, approximately 689 acres will be covered by solar panels. The proposed solar project is expected to be in operation for at least 20 years, but carries an expected useful lifetime of more than 30 years.

The project site, if approved, will be enclosed with a seven-foot-high fence. An entry gate will be provided at all site access locations. The proposed project will use solar photovoltaic (PV) modules mounted on single-axis trackers on pile foundations. Pile foundations of galvanized steel beams will be driven into the ground utilizing a pile driver machine. No concrete will be used to stabilize the pile foundations.

As outlined in the project plan, inverters in the solar panel fields will convert DC power to AC power, which will flow to a project substation to be located to the northeast of the Sisson Road and Bowers Road intersection.

The site plan review process by the Planning Commission, subject to public review and comment, details where the proposed development would be built, including location of inverters and substations on the impacted parcels.

Goodland Township zoning ordinance allows solar energy projects in the community, provided the applicant company is granted a special land-use permit to construct the project on land currently used for residential and agricultural purposes.

Members of the public will have three minutes per person, per meeting, to speak about the proposed project. Planning Commission Chairman Mike Bissett said while the public may speak at the upcoming meetings, the meetings are designed to give the full board the opportunity to comb through the documents and will not be a two-way dialogue between the planning officials and the public.

The Goodland Township Planning Commission meets at the Goodland Township Hall, 2374 N. Van Dyke.

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